This invention relates to system for automatically producing letter mail. More particularly, it relates to a larger, letter size self-mailer form and apparatus to feed, fold and seal it, and additional pages if desired, at any suitably equipped printer electronically connected to a source computer including Internet connections such as E-mail.
Self-mailers, that is form sheets on which may be printed address information and message information and then folded and sealed to form a mail piece, are well known. U.S. Pat. No. 3,995,808; to: Kehoe; for: UNIT CONTAINING VARIABLE MESSAGES; issued: Dec. 7, 1976 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,048,748: to: Martin et al: for: SINGLE SHEET SELF-MAILING FORM WITH IMPROVED OPENING CHARACTERISTICS: issued Sep. 17, 1991 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,114,067: to: Martin et al: for: SINGLE SHEET SELF-MAILING FORM WITH IMPROVED FEEDING CHARACTERISTICS: issued May. 19, 1992 all disclose forms that permit the printing of both message and address information on one side of the form, then get folded and sealed to place the message inside and address outside wherein opening of the form, by tearing off a perforated strip along the top, separates the message portion from the address portion.
These forms may be processed by apparatus such as that taught by U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,006,195: to: Martin et al: for: APPARATUS FOR FOLDING AND SEALING A FORM ALONG A TRANSVERSE EDGE: issued Apr. 19, 1991, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,192,389: to: Martin: for: APPARATUS FOR PREPARING A SELF-MAILER HAVING PRINTER, FOLDER AND TRANSPORT MEANS: issued Mar. 9, 1993 which are designed to fold and seal the self-mailer forms described in the above mentioned patents. They are designed to process a one page legal size form with a half page message portion exiting a printer situated above the apparatus.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,757: to: Martin et al: for: MECHANISM AND METHOD FOR ACCUMULATING AND FOLDING SHEETS: issued Oct. 8, 1991 discloses the accumulation of sheets of a letter which are stopped by the nip of a pair of stopped rollers prior to folding. This mechanism does handle letter size pages, but it is relatively complex and expensive and requires a trained operator.
None of the above mailing systems has achieved popularity because of limitations such as the message size, expense of the equipment and the reluctance of mailers to change. This is despite the hassle of xe2x80x9cgetting out the mailxe2x80x9d in offices both large and small.
Recently E-mail via the Internet is being used with greater frequency to relay messages that have conventionally been sent by regular surface or air mail, which has been dubbed xe2x80x9csnail mailxe2x80x9d. E-mail is fast, but it has disadvantages. Firstly, E-mail obligates the recipient to access his computer and call up the message. Secondly, if the recipient wants a hard copy, he must make the effort to download the message and print it out. If the sender wants to be sure that the recipient gets a hard copy, he must use snail mail.
Thus, it is an object of the subject invention to provide an inexpensive system that can automatically generate finished letter mail, of several pages if desired, at lightly attended remote terminals, so long as the system is electronically connected to a computer, anywhere in the world when tied to the Internet and E-mail.
It is a further object of the subject invention to provide a full letter size enclosure self-mailer form on a single sheet for use with larger size office printers. It is another object of the subject invention to pre-fold the forms to a 9-xc2xdxe2x80x3xc3x9711-xc2xdxe2x80x3 size during manufacture for easier handling and to minimize the size of a feeder to input the forms into printers which is a further object of the subject invention.
It is a further object of the subject invention to provide a mechanism for collating additional pages with the letter before the form enters a folding and sealing device and means within the folder to assure that the pages stay together during the folding and sealing process.
It is a further object of the subject invention to provide a system for timely and inexpensive delivery of hard copy E-mail messages.
The above objects are achieved and the disadvantages of the prior art overcome in accordance with the subject invention by means of a single sheet self-mailer form having a letter size enclosure portion and apparatus to feed it into a larger size office printer, to capture it as it exits the printer, assemble it with additional pages if required, and to fold and seal it or them automatically. The form is produced on a sheet of paper stock which is pre-folded once into a size convenient for packaging and handling. The folded form is unfolded as it feeds into a printer then, after being printed, it is folded thrice, with the second fold at the pre-fold crease. The form is fed into the printer letter end first so that the letter portion gets printed first, followed by the envelope portion on which the return address, postal indicia, destination address and Zip +4 bar code are printed, all on the same side of the paper.
In accordance with a second aspect of the subject invention, additional pages may be added to the form""s letter by placing a collating device between the printer and a folder sealer that folds and seals the form. The collator collects the pages, either from the printer utilizing a separate input or an external feeder, in reverse order, then the letter portion of the form, and feeds all together into the folder sealer for finishing. The form letter is thus necessarily always page 1.
The form is designed to be opened by tearing off the perforated top edge which removes the top and bottom of the envelope portion of the form and the connecting link between the letter and envelope portions. Thus the remainder is an open envelope with a letter inside. The form is perforated during manufacture so that the perforations are aligned after the form is folded into a #10 envelope size.
Because of the unique size and shape of the pre-folded form, an input feeder for printers has been designed that takes advantage of the form""s configuration to guarantee singulation by placing constraints in front of the two edges of the envelope portion of the form which hold it back when the feed rollers advance the letter portion then allow that portion to follow the letter portion as the form unfolds. The unfolded form then gets printed and exits the printer into a collator tray and thence into a folder sealer apparatus for finishing. In the case of a multiple page letter, the extra pages are printed first, in reverse order, and held in the collator tray until page one, printed on the form, is aligned with the extra pages and the collation is folded together and sealed in the folder sealer apparatus. The second fold of the form is along the pre-fold line which assures a tight fold and also, unlike many self-mailers, is not weakened by perforations used to attract a fold.
When the form with extra pages enters the second buckle chute, the extra pages are not confined by the first fold so could conceivable separate from the form when the second fold is made and the collation reverses direction. To prevent such an occurrence, a spring device is placed in the buckle chute where it is compressed by the leading edge of the once-folded collation and then pushes the collation into the second fold when it reverses, thus avoiding a separation.
This ability to completely prepare the mail automatically opens the door for a mailing system which will enable individuals, businesses, services and post offices to send messages via E-mail to a suitably equipped terminal anywhere for production of a hard copy of the E-mail. In addition to interoffice mail for a far flung company, a xe2x80x9cHard-E-mailxe2x80x9d business could offer such a service by setting up a central computer to collect E-mail messages, along with the sender""s account number, then forward that sender""s message, return address, logo, etc. to the xe2x80x9cHard-E-mailxe2x80x9d office nearest the destination address for automatic preparation and deposit. The address could include a Zip+4 bar code and an Information Bearing Indicia where the destination is the local USPS office. The hard E-mail would then catch the next local mail delivery, perhaps many days ahead of xe2x80x9csnail mailxe2x80x9d. Where the xe2x80x9cHard-E-mailxe2x80x9d business didn""t have an office, it could have partners to handle that locality.